Relating colonialism to Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park is highly controversial. While Edward Said and other critics who followed his steps maintain a colonial reading of the novel, others such as George E. Boulukos insist that Said in misreading the context of Austen’s novel. Boulukos states that “Said and those who follow him misread both the silence in Mansfield Park and its cultural moment. The first section of this essay considers Said’s methods in interpreting Mansfield Park, including his commitment to an ideal of interpretation as breaking the silence of the parks, dependent on the model of the ‘colonial unconscious’” (361).
Furthermore, family dynamics and the relationships among the inhabitants of Mansfield Park reflect a colonial mindset. The nature of the relationship governing the family members is highly hierarchal. At the top of the hierarchy, we have Sir Thomas. After him comes his wife, Lady Bertram. Then their two boys starting with the eldest, Tom, who is supposed to inherit from his family and then Edmond. After the two boys come the Bertram girls Maria and then Julia. At the bottom of the hierarchy come Fanny and the servants after her. Whereas some critics accuse Austen of ignoring the ongoing historical trauma associated with colonization to focus on scenes of escapist privilege, I instead argue that Sir Thomas’s patriarchal approach to parenting presents an authentic microcosm critique of the consequences of asserting unjust rule over another.
Sir Thomas is the authoritarian father figure. He enjoys giving orders to regulate matters at Mansfield Park. Furthermore, his business in the British colony of Antigua emphasizes the notion that he is the master of the house and everyone else is a follower. He likes being in control and giving orders. Thus, when he leaves Mansfield Park to attend to his affairs in the British colony, Antigua, the “chaos” starts in Mansfield Park. While Sir Thomas is a loving father figure, he is very hesitant to show his affection. Actually, his patriarchal attitude and belief that he needs to maintain order in his household by being controlling and acting rigidly led him to deprive his family, especially the children, from enjoying their life. Thus, when he leaves to Antigua there is a sense of relief and joy. After his departure, the children are able to be themselves and act their age. They now can enjoy simple and innocent pleasures such as acting and taking part in a play. Furthermore, Sir Thomas is especially rigid when dealing with Fanny because he believes that she needs more discipline that anyone else.
Maybe the only time we see Sir Thomas showing his affections towards Fanny is when Maria disappoints him and her family. He, then, looks at Fanny as replacement. One question that I would like to ask in this paper is whether Sir Thomas’s reserved and strict nature was the cause for Maria’s actions and downfall? Maria wanted a strong yet affectionate male figure in her life. While her father was a loving man, he did not show his affection in a constructive way. She treated his children coldly and demanded order all the time. He treated his own children as soldiers that need to listen and obey his orders. As a result, when Sir Thomas leaves to the Caribbean, the children are relieved to see him gone. His absence allows them some space to enjoy life and act their age.
This paper illustrates the colonial overtones of “Mansfield Park” by posing the characters within an established power structure, and illustrating the ways in which such a structure is oppressive.
Sir Thomas’s colonial views are obvious from his practice of slave trade in the Caribbean. He and his wife also consider Fanny as a colonized subject or an immigrant. They want to provide her with the education they choose. They also want to teach her how to act and speak properly, but they still do not consider her as one of them. She is never good enough to sleep in a decent room, like their daughter’s rooms. The only room they provide her with is one in the attic close to the servants’. This, I think, reflects the colonial attitudes of the British Empire at the time. The English colonized other countries imposing their language and education on the natives. Famous African writers such as Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong'o wrote about how they were not allowed to speak their own native language and were asked to speak English in schools and public places.
Similarly, when Fanny first comes to Mansfield Park, the family looks at her as if she were a savage, an uncivilized and uneducated person. They wanted to “refine” and “civilize” her. In addition, Fanny finds herself being used by Edmond and the family. When Edmond needs a friend and a companion, he resorts to Fanny. But when Mary Crawford is in the picture, he totally forgets about Fanny. In addition, Fanny’s aunts treat her almost like a servant, especially at the beginning of the novel. Despite all of the humiliation and exploitation that Fanny feels, she is expected to be grateful to the family that took her in and rescued her from poverty. Furthermore, when Fanny rejects Henry’s proposal, she is accused of being ungrateful and not knowing her own interest. Notably, Fanny is never treated as an adult or an equal to the family until the very end of the novel. Throughout the major part of Mansfield Park, Fanny is treated as someone who is incapable of making decisions for her and some who needs to be saved, the same the early missionaries and colonists perceived the natives of any British colony. Whereas other critics may focus more on the family dynamics of the domestic plot within Mansfield Park, my essay relates the family plot to the patriarchal tendencies inherent in the colonial narrative and the consequences of imposing the colonial attitudes on a family. I seek to explain how the representation of domesticity within Mansfield Park, in fact, is a representation of colonialism. In other words, my paper re-contextualizes, re-examines and re-sets the family narrative in Mansfield Park.
Works Cited
Boulukos, George E. "The Politics Of Silence: Mansfield Park And The Amelioration Of Slavery." Novel: A Forum On Fiction 39.3 (2006): 361-383. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 30 June 2014.
Downie, J. A. "Rehabilitating Sir Thomas Bertram." SEL: Studies In English Literature, 1500-1900 50.4 (2010): 739-758. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 30 June 2014.
William V. Spanos. "Herman Melville’s Pierre; or, The Ambiguities and Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park: The Imperial Violence of the Novel of Manners." symploke 19.1 (2011): 191-230. Project MUSE. Web. 30 Jun. 2014. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.
Fraiman, Susan. "Jane Austen And Edward Said: Gender, Culture, And Imperialism." Critical Inquiry 21.4 (1995): 805-821. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 30 June 2014.
Hays, Michael. "Representing Empire: Class, Culture, And The Popular Theatre In The Nineteenth Century." Theatre Journal 47.1 (1995): 65-82. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 30 June 2014.
Levy, Michelle. "Discovery And The Domestic Affections In Coleridge And Shelley." SEL: Studies In English Literature (Johns Hopkins) 44.4 (2004): 693-713. Historical Abstracts. Web. 30 June 2014.
Wiltshire, John. "Decolonising “Mansfield Park”." Essays In Criticism 53.4 (2003): 303-322. Humanities Source. Web. 30 June 2014.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. "Three Women's Texts And A Critique Of Imperialism." Critical Inquiry 12.(1985): 243-261. Humanities Source. Web. 30 June 2014.
Samuels, Robert. Writing Prejudices: The Psychoanalysis And Pedagogy Of Discrimination From Shakespeare To Toni Morrison. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 30 June 2014.
Aishah Alreshoud
Final paper
Dynamics of Need and Exploitation
Relating colonialism to Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park is highly controversial. While Edward Said and other critics who followed his steps maintain a colonial reading of the novel, others such as George E. Boulukos insist that Said in misreading the context of Austen’s novel. Boulukos states that “Said and those who follow him misread both the silence in Mansfield Park and its cultural moment. The first section of this essay considers Said’s methods in interpreting Mansfield Park, including his commitment to an ideal of interpretation as breaking the silence of the parks, dependent on the model of the ‘colonial unconscious’” (361).
Furthermore, family dynamics and the relationships among the inhabitants of Mansfield Park reflect a colonial mindset. The nature of the relationship governing the family members is highly hierarchal. At the top of the hierarchy, we have Sir Thomas. After him comes his wife, Lady Bertram. Then their two boys starting with the eldest, Tom, who is supposed to inherit from his family and then Edmond. After the two boys come the Bertram girls Maria and then Julia. At the bottom of the hierarchy come Fanny and the servants after her. Whereas some critics accuse Austen of ignoring the ongoing historical trauma associated with colonization to focus on scenes of escapist privilege, I instead argue that Sir Thomas’s patriarchal approach to parenting presents an authentic microcosm critique of the consequences of asserting unjust rule over another.
Sir Thomas is the authoritarian father figure. He enjoys giving orders to regulate matters at Mansfield Park. Furthermore, his business in the British colony of Antigua emphasizes the notion that he is the master of the house and everyone else is a follower. He likes being in control and giving orders. Thus, when he leaves Mansfield Park to attend to his affairs in the British colony, Antigua, the “chaos” starts in Mansfield Park. While Sir Thomas is a loving father figure, he is very hesitant to show his affection. Actually, his patriarchal attitude and belief that he needs to maintain order in his household by being controlling and acting rigidly led him to deprive his family, especially the children, from enjoying their life. Thus, when he leaves to Antigua there is a sense of relief and joy. After his departure, the children are able to be themselves and act their age. They now can enjoy simple and innocent pleasures such as acting and taking part in a play. Furthermore, Sir Thomas is especially rigid when dealing with Fanny because he believes that she needs more discipline that anyone else.
Maybe the only time we see Sir Thomas showing his affections towards Fanny is when Maria disappoints him and her family. He, then, looks at Fanny as replacement. One question that I would like to ask in this paper is whether Sir Thomas’s reserved and strict nature was the cause for Maria’s actions and downfall? Maria wanted a strong yet affectionate male figure in her life. While her father was a loving man, he did not show his affection in a constructive way. She treated his children coldly and demanded order all the time. He treated his own children as soldiers that need to listen and obey his orders. As a result, when Sir Thomas leaves to the Caribbean, the children are relieved to see him gone. His absence allows them some space to enjoy life and act their age.
This paper illustrates the colonial overtones of “Mansfield Park” by posing the characters within an established power structure, and illustrating the ways in which such a structure is oppressive.
Sir Thomas’s colonial views are obvious from his practice of slave trade in the Caribbean. He and his wife also consider Fanny as a colonized subject or an immigrant. They want to provide her with the education they choose. They also want to teach her how to act and speak properly, but they still do not consider her as one of them. She is never good enough to sleep in a decent room, like their daughter’s rooms. The only room they provide her with is one in the attic close to the servants’. This, I think, reflects the colonial attitudes of the British Empire at the time. The English colonized other countries imposing their language and education on the natives. Famous African writers such as Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong'o wrote about how they were not allowed to speak their own native language and were asked to speak English in schools and public places.
Similarly, when Fanny first comes to Mansfield Park, the family looks at her as if she were a savage, an uncivilized and uneducated person. They wanted to “refine” and “civilize” her. In addition, Fanny finds herself being used by Edmond and the family. When Edmond needs a friend and a companion, he resorts to Fanny. But when Mary Crawford is in the picture, he totally forgets about Fanny. In addition, Fanny’s aunts treat her almost like a servant, especially at the beginning of the novel. Despite all of the humiliation and exploitation that Fanny feels, she is expected to be grateful to the family that took her in and rescued her from poverty. Furthermore, when Fanny rejects Henry’s proposal, she is accused of being ungrateful and not knowing her own interest. Notably, Fanny is never treated as an adult or an equal to the family until the very end of the novel. Throughout the major part of Mansfield Park, Fanny is treated as someone who is incapable of making decisions for her and some who needs to be saved, the same the early missionaries and colonists perceived the natives of any British colony. Whereas other critics may focus more on the family dynamics of the domestic plot within Mansfield Park, my essay relates the family plot to the patriarchal tendencies inherent in the colonial narrative and the consequences of imposing the colonial attitudes on a family. I seek to explain how the representation of domesticity within Mansfield Park, in fact, is a representation of colonialism. In other words, my paper re-contextualizes, re-examines and re-sets the family narrative in Mansfield Park.
Works Cited
Boulukos, George E. "The Politics Of Silence: Mansfield Park And The Amelioration Of Slavery." Novel: A Forum On Fiction 39.3 (2006): 361-383. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 30 June 2014.
Downie, J. A. "Rehabilitating Sir Thomas Bertram." SEL: Studies In English Literature, 1500-1900 50.4 (2010): 739-758. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 30 June 2014.
William V. Spanos. "Herman Melville’s Pierre; or, The Ambiguities and Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park: The Imperial Violence of the Novel of Manners." symploke 19.1 (2011): 191-230. Project MUSE. Web. 30 Jun. 2014. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.
Fraiman, Susan. "Jane Austen And Edward Said: Gender, Culture, And Imperialism." Critical Inquiry 21.4 (1995): 805-821. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 30 June 2014.
Hays, Michael. "Representing Empire: Class, Culture, And The Popular Theatre In The Nineteenth Century." Theatre Journal 47.1 (1995): 65-82. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 30 June 2014.
Levy, Michelle. "Discovery And The Domestic Affections In Coleridge And Shelley." SEL: Studies In English Literature (Johns Hopkins) 44.4 (2004): 693-713. Historical Abstracts. Web. 30 June 2014.
Wiltshire, John. "Decolonising “Mansfield Park”." Essays In Criticism 53.4 (2003): 303-322. Humanities Source. Web. 30 June 2014.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. "Three Women's Texts And A Critique Of Imperialism." Critical Inquiry 12.(1985): 243-261. Humanities Source. Web. 30 June 2014.
Samuels, Robert. Writing Prejudices: The Psychoanalysis And Pedagogy Of Discrimination From Shakespeare To Toni Morrison. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 30 June 2014.